title: Agreement between visual and goniometric assessments of adductor and popliteal angles in infants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Amiel-Tison method is a commonly used technique for assessing tone and neurological status of infants. There is a paucity of data on the reliability of visual assessment of angles, a component of this method.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the visual and the goniometric assessment of adductor and popliteal angles in infants with hypertonia and neurologically normal controls. A total of 16 infants with hypertonia and 15 normal infants underwent blinded assessment of the adductor and popliteal angles.
  
  
  METHODS
  The mean and standard deviation for the difference between visual and goniometric measurements were calculated for popliteal and adductor angles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean differences between visual and goniometric measurements for the popliteal angle were 4.94 (SD3.40) and 8.73 (SD6.10) degrees for the cases and controls respectively. Similarly, the values for adductor angle measurements were 8.94 (SD8.23) and 14.47 (SD8.47) degrees respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The deviation of visual assessment from goniometric measurement was found to be less for popliteal angle measurement as compared to adductor angle measurements. It was note-worthy that the difference was less for the measurements of children with spasticity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Thejus T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Jayakrishnan
authors.forename: Suvasini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Sheffali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gulati
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wadhwa
authors.forename: Vinod K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Paul
keywords: Amiel-Tison method; goniometer; hypertonia; spasticity